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PESTO CHANGE-O Switch up summer’s favorite sauce with flavors that go beyond basil. BY LISA LAHEY Most people are familiar with basil pesto, that wonderfully fragrant basil purée fl avored with garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and cheese. T e uncooked sauce, which hails from Genoa, gets its name from the Italian pestare, meaning to pound, because it’s traditionally made in a mortar and pestle (see Test Kitchen, p. 93). You can fi nd recipes for basil pesto everywhere, including some delicious versions at FineCooking.com. What I want to share with you are fl avorful pestos you won’t fi nd anywhere else, ones that feature ingredients such as smoky roasted peppers; ripe tomatoes and creamy ricotta; or fi gs, ginger, and—whoa!—grapefruit. And don’t worry: You don’t need to haul out the mortar and pestle; these whip up fast in a food processor. Tame the garlic, skip the extra-virgin olive oil, and choose your nuts. T ese pestos include many of the same ingredients as the classic, including garlic for fl avor and oil to smooth the texture and carry fl avor. In a traditional basil pesto, the garlic goes in raw, but in many of these recipes, I tame its heat by blanching it in oil or roasting it to let the other fl avors shine. Similarly, I use regular olive oil, not extra-virgin, because the latter can mask subtle fl avors and tends to become bitter in the food processor. Since nuts are mild in fl avor (they mostly add richu c e what’s on hand; if you don’t have the exact one called Enjoy your pesto good eating.T ere d for, replace it with another. o right away, or save for future e are many ways to enjoy pesto; look on p. 69 for some ideas. All of these recipes make about 2 cups, and the pestos will keep, covered and refrigerated, for a few days. Even better, they can be portioned d and frozen. When it’s time to grill a steak or make pizza, you have a secret weapon on hand for boosting fl avor in an instant. Presto! e d e d ditor at Fine Cooking. Roasted Yellow Pepper Pesto 66 FINE COOKING • JUNE/JULY 2017 Photographs by Scott Phillips; food styling by Ronne Day